The Lightning Product Audit
The Lightning Product Audit is a 30min exercise for Product Managers/Leaders to identify the key risks all products face - & to help you take concrete steps to address those risks.
The Lightning Product Audit is a 30min exercise for Product Managers/Leaders to identify the key risks all products face - & to help you take concrete steps to address those risks.
Why is it so important?
If your product lacks strong foundations, it will never succeed.
Most PMs focus on all the wrong stuff, such as how to prioritize their backlog of features.
What primarily matters? If we look at the data on the right, what are the two big things that determine product success?
Addressing the right problem (represented by "lack of market need")
Building a differentiated product solution i.e., something unique + valued (6/9 of the top reasons for product failure stem from lack of differentiation)
Your job as a product leader is managing risk. Whether for the product you currently manage, a product you might be interviewing for, or coming in as a consultant, you must immediately be able to assess these two key risks.
Get started with this template right now.
RICE Prioritization Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Strategic Planning, Prioritization
Teams use the RICE framework to prioritize the best course of action for their business. Using the model, you assign a RICE score to different ideas and tasks. This score tells you whether that item is something to prioritize. As a result, you make better-informed decisions about growing your business.
User Interview Template
Works best for:
Desk Research, Product Management
A user interview is a UX research technique in which researchers ask the user questions about a topic. They allow your team to quickly and easily collect user data and learn more about your users. In general, organizations conduct user interviews to gather background data, to understand how people use technology, to take a snapshot of how users interact with a product, to understand user objectives and motivations, and to find users’ pain points. Use this template to record notes during an interview to ensure you’re gathering the data you need to create personas.
Empathy Map Template
Works best for:
Market Research, User Experience, Mapping
Attracting new users, compelling them to try your product, and turning them into loyal customers—it all starts with understanding them. An empathy map is a tool that leads to that understanding, by giving you space to articulate everything you know about your customers, including their needs, expectations, and decision-making drivers. That way you’ll be able to challenge your assumptions and identify the gaps in your knowledge. Our template lets you easily create an empathy map divided into four key squares—what your customers Say, Think, Do, and Feel.
Product Market Fit Board
Works best for:
Product Management, Planning
The Product Market Fit Board template helps product teams assess and validate product-market fit. By capturing user feedback, analyzing market trends, and tracking key metrics, this template enables teams to evaluate product-market alignment objectively. With sections for defining target segments, identifying pain points, and prioritizing features, it guides teams through the process of optimizing product-market fit. This template serves as a tool for iteratively refining products to meet customer needs and drive market success.
Ansoff Matrix Template
Works best for:
Leadership, Operations, Strategic Planning
Keep growing. Keep scaling. Keep finding those new opportunities in new markets—and creative new ways to reach customers there. Sound like your approach? Then this template might be a great fit. An Ansoff Matrix (aka, a product or market expansion grid) is broken into four potential growth strategies: Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development, and Diversification. When you go through each section with your team, you’ll get a clear view of your options going forward and the potential risks and rewards of each.
Easter Egg Retrospective
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Retrospectives, Meetings
The Easter Egg Retrospective template offers a themed approach to retrospectives, incorporating elements of the Easter holiday. It provides elements for reflecting on past iterations, hunting for hidden insights, and brainstorming improvements. This template enables teams to have fun while addressing serious topics, fostering creativity and collaboration. By promoting a playful yet productive atmosphere, the Easter Egg Retrospective empowers teams to uncover hidden gems, drive improvement, and strengthen team cohesion effectively.